10 Reasons John Cena Is This Generation's Mitsuharu Misawa

5. Lots Of Outstanding Matches In A Short Period Of Time

John Cena Mitsuharu Misawa
Pro Wrestling Noah

At first glance, one could safely ague that Misawa’s a much better wrestler than Cena. After all, Misawa has a lifetime average match rating of 4.17 out of 5 (based on 1,070 rated matches rated by the Wrestling Observer), while Cena has a rating of 3.41 out of 5 (based on 160 matches).

That said, Cena can (and does) put on great matches when called upon to do so. Ever since Cena won the U.S. Championship, he has put on a string of great matches, which have made his contests the highlight of every episode of RAW he appears on, as well as the best matches on several consecutive PPVs/Network shows.

This concentration of great matches in a short period is a scaled-down version of the same thing that happened to Misawa in the 1990s. From December 1993 to August 1999, Misawa was putting on some of the most outstanding matches ever seen in Japan, including an unprecedented three 5-Star marquis matches in a row between Match 4th and June 9th, 1995.

Simply put, Mitsuharu Misawa went on a ‘fantastic match spree’ in the 1990s during which he showcased the best of his skills, and John Cena’s in the process of doing the same thing during 2015.

Contributor

Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.